I mean author Ray Bradbury, who died last year and whose work will be honored on Saturday, March 23rd in a program led by Professor Jonathan R. Eller, Director of the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies at IUPUI and author of, among other works, Becoming Ray Bradbury

The day-long program at the Irvington Library, entitled “Fahrenheit 3/23: Celebrating Ray Bradbury,” will begin at 10:30 a.m. with a presentation by Eller about the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies. At 2:00 p.m. he will lead a discussion of Bradbury’s famous novel of book-burning, Fahrenheit 451, and at 5:30 there will be a screening of the film based on the novel.

Here’s the Library Journal review of Becoming Ray Bradbury:
Eller provides a detailed account of the experiences that shaped Ray Bradbury’s life and writing career from his childhood until he embarked on the screenplay for John Huston’s Moby Dick in late 1953. Eller narrates biographical information pulled from primary and secondary sources and presents it in concise, informative chapters, giving much attention to the writers, editors, and artists with whom Bradbury interacted at the time, e.g., illustrator Hannes Bok and authors Edmond Hamilton and Henry Kuttner, and showcasing their involvement in Bradbury’s intellectual growth. Eller clearly analyzes many of the influences on Bradbury–such as his reading of Karen Horney’s The Neurotic Personality of Our Time (1937) and a 1945 trip to Mexico–and discusses the relationship between Bradbury’s life and his writings, perhaps most notably the writer’s meeting with Doubleday editor Walter I. Bradbury (no relation) in 1949, which prompted the concept of The Martian Chronicles. VERDICT Eller’s work is thorough and enlightening on the subject of one of science fiction’s greatest minds. Highly recommended not just for Bradbury fans but for all students of science fiction.

Copies of Becoming Ray Bradbury as well as Fahrenheit 451 and other Bradbury books will be sold by Bookmamas.

And please note Sue Kennedy’s comment: Eller will appear at Indy Reads Books on Friday evening, March 22nd, at 7:00 p.m., to lead a discussion about The Martian Chronicles.